CHRONOLOGY OF SEMINAL EVENTS
PRECEEDING THE DECLARATION OF LITHUANIA'S INDEPENDENCE

June 3, 1988. At a meeting of
intellectuals in Vilnius the Lithuanian citizens' movement, Sąjūdis,
is formed, calling for greater political, economic, and cultural
autonomy.

June 24, 1988. A rally of 50,000
demonstrate support for Sąjūdis, and demand that
delegates to the 19th Communist Party Conference press for
greater national autonomy.

July 3, 1988. The underground
Lithuanian Freedom League publicly proclaims its political
program calling for re-establishment of independence.

July 9, 1988. 100,000 gather in
Vilnius' Vingis Park to meet with returning delegates from the
19th Communist Party Conference in Moscow. Lithuanian Communist
Party Secretary announces the forthcoming legalization by Moscow
of the banned flag of independent Lithuania.

August 5, 1988. Sąjūdis
newsletter publishes the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and its
protocols of August-September 1939.

August 23, 1988. Sąjūdis
sponsors a demonstration of 200,000 to commemorate the loss of
Lithuania's independence as a result of the above secret Pact.

September 3, 1988. Tens of
thousands form a human chain along the Baltic sea coast to
protest its pollution.

September 16-17, 1988.
Approximately 10,000 form a human chain around the Ignalina
nuclear power plant demanding safety inspections by an
international team of experts.

September 29, 1988. For the first
time representatives of Sajūdis and the Lithuanian Freedom
League share the same platform at a rally of 5,000 to protest
militia violence against peaceful demonstrators and hunger
strikers.

October 7, 1988. 100,000 gather in
Vilnius to witness the raising of the now legal Lithuanian
national flag over the tower of the historic medieval castle on
Gediminas hill.

October 20, 1988. Algirdas
Brazauskas becomes head of the Lithuanian Communist Party,
promising major reforms, including multi-candidate elections and
better church-state relations.

October 22-23, 1988. Sąjūdis
holds its founding Congress in Vilnius, attended by more than
1,100 delegates, and elects a 220-member national assembly and an
executive council of 35. Professor Vytautas Landsbergis is
elected to head Sajūdis. Proceedings are broadcast live on TV,
including an address by Antanas Terleckas, leader of the
Lithuanian Freedom League, calling for immediate restoration of
Lithuania's independence. The government announces the imminent
return to the faithful of the historic Vilnius cathedral which
has been turned into an art museum 48 years ago. The following
day the recently annointed Cardinal Vincentas Sladkevičius
celebrates mass outside the Cathedral with tens of thousands of
worshippers in attendance.

November 1, 1988. For the first
time, the Soviet regime accords recognition of a religious feast
day—All Saints Day.

November 9, 1988. Sąjūdis
launches a massive drive to petition the Supreme Soviet against
proposed changes to the Soviet Constitution which would
centralize power in Moscow to an even greater extent than
heretofore.

November 11-14, 1988. Politburo
member Nikolai Slyunkov visits Lithuania-while two others travel
to Estonia and Latvia— in an apparent attempt to counter
demands by the Baltic republics for greater local self-rule.
Lithuanians are angered by his reference to Lithuania as a
"territory."

November 17-18, 1988. The
Lithuanian Supreme Soviet, convening one day after the Estonian
Supreme Soviet declared its sovereignty, is prevented by the
Lithuanian Communist Party from voting on a similar resolution.
The move brings forth angry protests by Sqjūdis and is
the onset of tension between it and the local party leadership.

November 20, 1988. Sąjūdis
declares the "moral independence" of Lithuania, and
that "henceforth only those laws will be honored which do
not limit Lithuania's independence."

November 21, 1988. 10,000 gather
in Vilnius' Gediminas square in a show of solidarity with
Sąjūdis, and to demonstrate against the Lithuanian Communist
Party's decision to block to vote on sovereignty.

November 24, 1988. Sqjūdis
presents to the Supreme Soviet in Moscow petitions signed by 1,8
million residents of Lithuania (one-half of the entire
population) to protest changes in the Soviet Constitution which
would further centralize power in Moscow.

November 26, 1988. The two major
Lithuanian national democratic movements stage separate rallies
in Gediminas square in Vilnius. The first, organized by Sąjūdis
(attended by approximately 20,000) urges Lithuanian deputies
departing for the All-Union Supreme Soviet session in Moscow to
defend Lithuania's right to sovereignty. The second, organized by
the Lithuanian Freedom League (attended also by approximately
20,000) denounces proposed changes in the Soviet Constitution,
opposes sovereignty as a half-measure, and demands the withdrawal
of Soviet forces from Lithuania.

December 29, 1988. Bishop
Julijonas Steponavičius, exiled from his Vilnius diocese in 1961
for refusing to condone government interference in church
matters, is notified that his 48-year banishment is over, and
that he can resume his pastoral duties in Vilnius.

January 10, 1989. 50,000
demonstrate in Vilnius demanding independence and withdrawal of
the Red Army. The rally, sanctioned by the local government, is
sponsored by the Lithuanian Freedom League and the nascent
Lithuanian Democratic Party to mark the last German-Soviet secret
protocol on the disposition of Lithuanian territory. The rally
approves a resolution to the United Nations' Decolonization
Committee requesting it to place on its agenda for the U.N.
General Assembly, the question of terminating the colonization of the Baltic states.

January 15,1989. Four Sąjūdis
candidates win seats in the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet.

January 24, 1989. Sąjūdis announces the candidacy of its members for all 42 seats alloted
to Lithuania in the All-Union Congress of People's Deputies.

January 25, 1989. The Presidium of
the Lithuanian Supreme decrees the implementation of Lithuanian
as the official language in administration, public services, and
in all laws and legislative acts. Senior government officials and
managers are allowed two years to learn the language. A second
decree declares February 15th, the anniversary of the Lithuanian
declaration of independence in 1918, a republic holiday.

February 6-7, 1989. Five members
of the European 'Parliament meet in Vilnius with supporters of
the Lithuanian Freedom League and other pro-independence groups
which express concern that the parliamentarians favor only
limited autonomy for Lithuania. Sąjūdis leadership
presents a statement emphasizing that Lithuanians will accept
nothing less than political independence.

February 14, 1989. The Russian
"Jedinstvo" organizes a rally of 50,000 non-Lithuanians
to protest the law implementing Lithuanian as the official
language. It also calls for replacement of the Lithuanian
Communist Party leadership and urges a work stoppage to protest
the decision to re-establish Lithuanian Independence Day as a
republic holiday.

February 15-16, 1989. 200,000
participate in the Sąjūdis sponsored two-day
commemoration of Lithuania's independence in Kaunas and Vilnius, which includes re-dedication of the Lithuanian Freedom Monument
removed by the Soviet occupiers. The national assembly of Sąjūdis
in Kaunas—in its most radical statement to date—calls for
re-establishment of an independent, democratic and neutral
Lithuanian state.

February 21, 1989. At the
Lithuanian Communist Party plenum officials angrily denounce Sąjūdis'
support for political independence and accuse it of deviating
from its original intent to support "perestroika."
Party Secretary Brazauskas threatens to tighten restrictions on
independent press, as well as on party members who are active in
the leadership of Sąjūdis. Broadcast of Sąjūdis'
90-minute weekly TV program is suspended. (It is re-instated on
April 12, 1989.)

February 24, 1989. 8,000 participate in a pacifist
demonstration in Kaunas and call for a
stop to the forced induction of Lithuanians into the Red Army.

February 28, 1989. Sąjūdis
candidates—challenging the Lithuanian Communist Party's first
and second secretaries Brazauskas and Vladimir Berezov in the
March 26 election to the Congress of People's Deputies—withdraw
at the behest of Sąjūdis' Executive Council who hypothesized that the expected victory over two party leaders
would cause Moscow to replace them with officials hostile to
the Lithuanian national democratic movement.

March 26, 1989. Sąjūdis
wins a stunning 31-member victory to the USSR Congress of
People's Deputies, a clear manifestation of Lithuanian people's
support for the movement for independence, while rejecting the communist ideology and Soviet colonialism.

April 1, 1989. At the 4th session
of Sąjūdis its President Vytautas Landsbergis, states
that Lithuania is evolving toward a multi-party system which
includes the Lithuanian Freedom League, the Greens, and the emerging
Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party, the Lithuanian Democratic
Party, the Workers' Party, and the Lithuanian Social Democratic
Party.

May 13-14, 1989. The first joint
assembly of representatives from the independence movements in
the three Baltic republics is held in Tallinn, Estonia.
Approximately 500 leaders participate from the Lithuanian Sąjūdis,
and the Popular Fronts of Latvia and Estonia respectively,
calling for independence in a neutral and demilitarized zone comprised of the three republics.

May 18, 1989. The Lithuanian
Supreme Soviet (by a vote of 291 to 8 and 3 abstaining) declares
for self-determination and restoration of state sovereignty.

May 26, 1989. At the Soviet
Congress of People's Deputies Vytautas Landsbergis, the head of Sąjūdis,
threatens to boycott elections in protest of the violation of
sovereignty rights of respective republics. The protest is
withdrawn and a crisis averted.

May 31, 1989. At the above
Congress the Lithuanian Communist Party head demands that the
Kremlin reveal "the historic truth" about the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. A commission to investigate it is set
up.

July 1, 1989. Soviet President,
Mikhail Gorbachev, tells viewers of Moscow TV that the Baltic
national drive for independence would not be tolerated.

July 7, 1989. While in New York,
Vytautas Landsbergis, head of Sąjūdis, responds to
Gorbachev's above statement of July 1: "Our right to
self-determination is ours, and we don't have to beg anyone for
it . . . Some great leaders believe that they can bestow these
rights and take them away. This is an antiquated mentality of
the times of serfdom." (at a reception at N.Y.' Freedom
House.)

July 12, 1989. 10,000 gather at
Lenin's Monument in Vilnius to mark the Lithuanian-Soviet Peace
Treaty of 1920, under which Lenin's government renounced all
claims to Lithuania's territory.

July 27,1989. The Supreme Soviet
endorses a plan to give the Baltic republics an unprecedented
degree of economic independence beginning next year. The three
republics would control their own trade, industry and resources,
and a right to conduct their economies on a free-market basis.

Marching to the demonstration on August 23, 1989 near the Lithuanian-Latvian border.
Photo K. Sverys

August 22, 1989. Fourteen of the
twenty-six members of the USSR Supreme Soviet Commission to
investigate the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 and its secret
protocols, report that they should be annulled, and that
relations between the Baltic States and the Soviet Union should
be governed by the 1920 treaties under which the USSR guaranteed
the territorial integrity of the three Baltic states.

August 23, 1989. More than one
million people stage a human chain demonstration across the three
Baltic republics protesting the 1939 Stalin-Hitler pact that led
to the loss of their respective independence.

August 26, 1989. The Central
Committee of the Soviet Communist Party issues a statement
accusing the independence movements of Lithuania, Latvia, and
Estonia of exploiting the atmosphere of Soviet reform to
"disintegrate the cohesion" of the Soviet Union, and warns of "impending disaster."

September 1, 1989. Despite quasi
threats from the Kremlin, the leaders of the political national
movements in the three Baltic republics—using moral pressure
and serene defiance—state that they have prepared a new, more
radical platform, demanding special status for the region in its
transition to complete independence.

September 15, 1989. President
Gorbachev meets with leaders of the three Baltic republics to
discuss a compromise to avert the growing demands for secession.

November 16, 1989. Lithuanian
Communist Party leaders inform the Soviet Politburo that despite
its warnings, they plan to become autonomous of Moscow.

December 7, 1989. The Lithuanian
Supreme Soviet repeals Article 6 of the constitution (which gave
the Communist Party dominance) and legalizes a multi-party system.

December 20, 1989. The Lithuanian
Communist Party votes overwhelmingly to become independent of Moscow.

December 22, 1989. The
Baltic delegate at the Soviet Congress of People's Deputies
reject a Moscow proposal to establish a committee of
constitutional supervision, claiming it would infringe on their
respective rights.

December 24, 1989. The above
Congress adopts a tepid resolution admitting that the
Soviet-German Pacts of 1939 violated "the sovereignty and
independence of other nations and were legally untenable and
invalid from the moment they were signed."

December 25, 1989. Speaking to the
Central Committee of the Soviet Union's Communist Party, M.
Gorbachev denounces as "illegitimate" the Lithuanian
Communist Party's decision to become autonomous, and warns that
the Soviet Union would not permit "the breakup of the
federal state."

January 4, 1990. M. Gorbachev
meets with Lithuanian Communist Party leaders and leans toward a
compromise on the split. He plans a three-day visit to Lithuania.

January 10, 1990. Tens of
thousands rally in Vilnius in support of total independence on
the eve of Gorbachev's visit, despite a request by Kremlin's
ideology chief Vadim Medvedev to cancel it.

January 11, 1990. On his visit to
Lithuania, Gorbachev appeals to Lithuanians not to press for
independence and promises that the Supreme Soviet will consider
laws for secession, as well as more decentralization and more
democratization.

January 12, 1990. Leaders of Sąjūdis
denounce as "a cheap lie and propaganda" Gorbachev's
announcement that the Kremlin has begun work on a draft law
outlining procedures for the republics to secede. Vytautas Landsbergis calls it an insult, that the people must decide for
themselves, and that accepting such a law would indicate being a
legal part of the Soviet Union to begin with.

January 13, 1990. Gorbachev
expresses willingness to accept a multi-party system in the
Soviet Union, and seems to have failed in his attempt to persuade
the Lithuanian

Vytautas Landsbergis in Vilnius on March 11, 1990.
Photo by E. Šulaitis

Communist Party to end their split
with Moscow, or to temper demands for total independence.

January 15, 1990. In a vote of 228
to 4 (19 abstaining) Lithuanian Communist Party head, Algirdas
Brazauskas, is elected by the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet as
President of the republic, in seeming endorsement of his defiance
of Moscow and Gorbachev.

February 24-March 4, 1990. In a
multi-party election Sąjūdis endorses and wins a
sweeping majority in the Lithuanian Parliament.

March 11,1990. Vytautas
Landsbergis, the head of Sąjūdis is elected President of
Lithuania by a vote of 91 over Brazauskas' 38 votes. By an
overwhelming vote of 124 (6 abstentions), the parliament declares
the restoration of Lithuania's independence.

Compiled by Danutė S. Harmon

Lithuanians thank the Lord for their independence—Vilnius, 1990.
Photo by E. Šulaitis

Remains of Siberian exiles returned to Lithuania—Kedainiai, 1989.
Photo by V. Kapočius